Eagles' Walsh Seeks Five Healthy Offensive Linemen

Eagles center David Alexander took a look around him last Sunday and saw so many new faces he thought perhaps introductions might be in order.

He related, "It was strange. I looked around the huddle in the second half and it was only me, Randall (Cunningham), Keith Jackson and Keith Byars there that played last year."

Actually, there were others who played, but only those four who started for the Eagles last season. And actually, it wasn't a bad foursome to build an offense around. It included the Eagles top passer and runner (Cunningham by himself), the top two pass catchers (Byars and Jackson) and the top two blockers (Alexander and Byars).

"I was the only starting lineman from last year," Alexander said. "But I still think we did a pretty good job after looking at the film."

Right tackle Reggie Singletary was still in the game, too, but that was it for this year's starters. Left tackle Ron Heller, who moved there after Singletary won his job and Matt Darwin went on the injured list earlier this year, was benched at halftime. Coach Buddy Ryan decided Heller couldn't block Bruce Smith and Smith decided he wasn't going to be suckered into letting Heller bait him into a fight that would get him kicked out of the game.

Left guard Mike Schad already was sidelined with a dislocated big left toe and right guard Ron Solt had left the game with a twisted ankle. Reading left to right, the Eagles were going with Darryl Smith, Ben Tamburello, Alexander, Bruce Collie and Singletary.

"Yeah, that's about it," offensive line coach Bill Walsh said yesterday when asked if his job this week was primarily one of finding five healthy bodies to play Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.

"We've looked around the league (on the waiver wire) and there just isn't anyone out there we want," said Walsh, a Phillipsburg native who has been on the Eagles staff since 1987.

"These things seem to go in cycles," Eagles trainer Otho Davis said. "It can be by position and at times it's by body part." It's both this time if you consider a leg one body part.

The most serious injury, oddly, seems to belong to Tamburello, who finished the Buffalo game. He hurt and knee and is listed as "questionable" for Sunday's game. Solt and Schad are on the "probable" list.

Tamburello is being fitted for a knee brace, Solt will probably hold out of practice until Sunday and Schad has a turf toe that doesn't bother him as much when he's playing on grass.

"It'll help that we're on grass this week," Walsh said. "I know it even makes a difference for me when we play on grass. Even my old knees can tell the difference." Walsh still limps from an old non-football knee injury.

Does grass make that much of a difference. Mike Quick, who was standing at a nearby lunch table fixing a salad when the question was asked and said, "Damn right. A big difference." Quick, of course, is still on the IR list as a result of a pair of gimpy knees that he tried to protect by keeping his running on artificial turn to a minimum. His career is in jeopardy and he thinks he would have lasted longer if he could have played on grass.

Walsh said that dipping into the depth chart might not have hurt last week as much as many fans thought. Darryl Smith is pretty much a pass blocking specialist and the Eagles were behind in the game and weren't going to run much anyway. He did a pretty fair job of occasionally slowing down Buffalo's Bruce Smith who alternated between terrorizing Cunningham and being mesmerized by Cunningham's scambles.

Walsh said Tamburello, who has started occasionally for the Eagles, and Collie, a starter on the San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl team a year ago, both have been anxious for playing time. He said when they came into the game "they played with great enthusiasm."

Someone, however, must not have been as enthusiastic about Collie's performance as Walsh. Collie was dropped to third string on the depth chart behind Tamburello who is listed as the top backup at both guard spots and at center. Collie was the only Eagle to receive a poor grade from Ryan a week earlier in a big win over the New York Giants.

So the Eagles would like at least one of their other guards to be ready to go this week. "Solt won't be able to work today," Walsh said. "But Ben's going to try it." Davis said Schad might try to work out later in the week.

Walsh pointed out that Solt, still not fully recovered from double knee surgery two years ago, regularly sits out practice during the week and plays on Sunday. "Most guys can't do that," Walsh said. "But he's got the experience and the ability others don't have."

In a way, injuries like Solt's can prove to be a blessing. Alexander said all of the linemen get plenty of practice time. "Everybody knows the plays so when they came in they felt comfortable. There were no mental mistakes," Alexander said. "It was a little bit of an adjustment, but Ben and Bruce did a good job. Both played real well."